THE Derby Sale top lot came late in the second session on Thursday when Timmy Hillman’s Castledillon Stud offered a handsome Kayf Tara gelding.

A number of bidders made a play for the son of the three-time winner Miss Bailly, including Ian Ferguson and Matt Coleman but it was Eddie O’Leary, standing alongside Gordon Elliott, who won the battle when the hammer dropped at €265,000. It was the highest price paid for a store horse at public auction this year.

Elliott also has care of the horse’s full-brother Romeo Coolio who he bought for £420,000 at the Cheltenham Festival Sale in March after that four-year-old won a point to point for the Monbeg team.

“I thought he was the stand-out of the sale,” Elliott said. “He looks the part and he also looks a little like his brother.”

It was a first sale topper for Straffan-based Castledillon Stud and the farm’s Timmy Hillman was understandably delighted with the transaction. “We bought him privately off his breeder Will Kinsey during Covid,” the vendor explained. “He was a smasher at the time. He has done nothing wrong at all and let’s hope he is lucky for his new owners.”

Murphys to the fore

A Doctor Dino half-brother to superstars Douvan and Jonbon certainly had the page to light up the bid board and, with a physical presence to match his illustrious pedigree, it was no surprise that it took a bid of €250,000 from Aiden and Olly Murphy to eventually secure the Coolmara Stables-consigned son of Star Face.

Aiden Murphy fought off plenty of challengers for this one, including underbidder Henry de Bromhead, and said: “He’s for Olly to train for an existing client. He is a lovely horse, his pedigree needs no introduction and he seems to have a lovely temperament. Every time I saw him over the past two days he showed himself perfectly. Let’s hope he is lucky and can live up to his family.”

Murphy had opened the bidding at €100,000. Explaining his bold tactic, he said: “He was always going to make more, and we were in a bit of a hurry!”

For vendor Coolmara Stables it was a great result and the Cork farm’s Cathal Mariga said: “We were hoping for that sort of figure. He is a gorgeous horse. We bought him as a foal privately from Ennel Bloodstock in Westmeath and before Jonbon came out. He already had Douvan in his pedigree and to get another Grade 1 winner, it was a nice update to get.

“He has been a great horse to work with at home, he did everything right and never put a foot wrong.”

Aiden Murphy has been a pillar of the Derby Sale for many years and he also struck for the second top lot on Wednesday when getting the better of Mags O’Toole for a €200,000 son of Saint Des Saints. Sold by Peter Vaughan’s Moanmore Stables the gelding is already named Karonacho and he is a half-brother to one of the best four-year-olds in France, Juntos Ganamos, who won a Grade 1 chase at Auteuil in May.

This horse will also be trained by Murphy’s son, Olly, who said: “He is a very athletic horse, one we can look forward to getting back to the yard. It is nice to be buying these top-end stores. The yard is trying to go from strength to strength and, to do it, we need to be buying the best horses.”